There is no doubt that what happened in my lai was an atrocity beyond measures. The metropolis and mental life29 georg simmel reading 2. In kelman and hamiltons theory, valueoriented citizens appear to be the most likely citizen type to oppose authority with an authoritarian orientation i. Crimes of obedience treats sanctioned massacres such as my lai, the nazi final solution, and the soviet purges as the ultimate crimes of obedience. Lee hamilton 1989 sanctioned massacres the slaughter at my lai is an instance of a class of violent acts that can be described as sanctioned massacres kelman, 1973. In this village the murder of innocent women, children and unarmed old men of the village had occurred for no apparent reason. Genocide, mass killing, torture, ethnic cleansing, and other gross violations of human rights are defined as war crimes or crimes against humanity under international law. In crimes of obedience, kelman and hamilton argue that the my lai massacre is an instance of a class of violent acts that can be sanctioned massacres. Sergeant william calleys defense of his behavior in the my lai massacre and the widespread public support for his argument that he was merely obeying orders from a superior and was not personally culpable led herbert c.
Seymour hersh, coverup, random house, new york, 1972. Extending kelman and hamiltons 1989 research on crimes of obedience in the military, this article explores crimes of obedience and crimes of conformity in the workplace. The men of charlie company were ordered to go into the village of my lai and destroy it in search of viet cong, which none were found. At the bottom of this page, you will find a pdf of extra readings for this course. When we act as the agent of someone in authority we find it easy to deny personal responsibility for our actions just following orders or just doing our job. Random samples of the residents of washington, dc, moscow, russia, and tokyo, japan were presented four vignettes about organizational wrongdoing. Theoretical problems of responsibility in chains of command were addressed and responsibility within interpersonal causal chains was investigated among a quota sample of the boston smsa n 391. A military crime of obedience 14 herbert kelman and v.
An analysis of psychological manipulation in military culture. We are discussing the reliability of eyewitness accounts and. Life is a series of traps, very shaping of history now outpaces the ability of men to orient themselves. Findings replicated prior investigations of attitudes about the my lai massacre and. People need to resist the dangerous web of influence from strong personalities in fields such as politics, religion and the mass media who become the objects of their idolatry. Lee hamilton, assignment of responsibility in the case of. Psychology of the nazi obedience uk essays ukessays. My lai, the nazi final solution, and the soviet purges as the ulti. The my lai massacre, watergate, and the irancontra affair are examples of the tendency for people to commit illegal acts when ordered by authority and for others to excuse such acts as not subject to ordinary morality. We will be using this supplement, so mentally prepare yourselves to read. I initiated one major line of researchstarting with a study in 1971, in collaboration with v. Obedience to authority involves a chain of causation whereby one party causes another to act. Although all participants were alive by the time of the trials for the massacre, they were either on trial or probably felt under threat of trial.
In response to a description of the my lai situation your commanding officer orders you to shoot unarmed civilians, kelman and hamilton 1989 found that survey samples n 400 of u. Sergeant william calleys defense of his behavior in the my lai massacre and. The men of charlie company were ordered to go into the village of my lai and destroy it. The my lai massacre, in which hundreds of innocent vietnamese. Psychology history muskingum university selentlustredd. Herbert kelman is part of a generation for which the relationship between. These three social processes are exemplified in the massacres at my lai in kelman and hamilton s study and will now be applied to the events that occurred at nanking. The my lai massacre most cannot imagine what it would be like to be a soldier in the vietnam war. Lee hamilton describe a specific example of a crime in which the individuals involved attempted to deny responsibility for their actions by claiming that they.
The massacre key terms sanctioned massacre authorization routinization dehumanization march 16, 1968 overturning the 48th viet cong battalion mass murder of hundreds of, for the most part, unarmed civillians women, children and. According to kelman hamilton, unquestioning obedience has been the cause of such disasters as the my lai massacre and the holocaust. Some of the fbi agents submitting these field reports expressed the belief that the tactics they observed and. Captain medina gave the orders for the next days action at the close of that funeral. This book explains how individuals in authority can abuse their power by failing to. Investigation of the my lai incident, report of the armed services. The my lai massacre in vietnam and other events in which people committed illegal actions when ordered to do so by a military or political official or private sector employer are analyzed with respect to their nature and the publics attitudes toward them. The massacre key terms sanctioned massacre authorization routinization dehumanization march 16, 1968 overturning the 48th viet cong battalion mass murder of hundreds of, for the most part, unarmed civillians women, children and the elderly raped, assaulted, tortured, mutilated. Lee hamilton to investigate the attitudes toward responsibility and authority that underlie crimes of obediencenot only in military. Lee date 1989 publisher yale university press pub place london, new haven isbn10. Lee hamilton and i had the opportunity to examine some of the attitudinal correlates of the three political orientations as part of our research on u. Weberian framework, kelman and hamilton treat crimes of obedience as occurring when the subordinate, in a system of legal authority, proves incapable of challenging the legitimacy of an order by his superior.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. These three social processes are exemplified in the massacres at my lai in kelman and hamiltons study and will now be applied to the events that occurred at nanking. A crime of obedience social conditions of these men dramatically weakened the moral inhibitions that otherwise would have prevented their doing unthinkable crime of obedience begins with orders from one authority sanctioned massacres tend to occur in the context of an overall policy that is explicitly or implicitly genocidal. In this article the events that occurred during the vietnam war in the village of my lai 4 are discussed. Some see this in relation to nazis following orders during the final solution, or in cases like the my lai massacre during the vietnam war where 400 civilians were killed by us soldiers. Kelman and hamilton the my lai massacre a crime of. A perspective on kelman and hamiltons crimes of obedience. Why my lai 1st semester project 6 our case study, the my lai massacre, is described in detail and we give a shorter account of the vietnam war. The authors are proud sponsors of the 2020 sage keith roberts teaching innovations award enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual asa preconference teaching and learning workshop sociology, exploring the architecture of everyday life. The ground troops involved in the nction at mylai 4 had been in vietnam less than four months, but during that tme had received many casualties as a result of. Lee hamilton related milgrams experiments to events during the vietnam war.
This book explains how individuals in authority can abuse their power by failing to distinguish. The my lai massacre is one example of a crime in which ind. The authors present a detailed description of the my lai massacre and the trial of lieutenant william calley. Lee date 1989 publisher yale university press pub place london, new haven isbn10 0300041845, 0300048 isbn 9780300041842, 97803000481. Lee hamilton and herbert kelman explain this type of. A company of american soldiers brutally killed more than 500. Crimes of obedience toward a social psychology of authority and responsibility. A report on the massacre and its aftermath, vintage books, new york, 1970. Throughout history, crimes of obedience have occurred in the my lai massacre, nazi concentration camps, and more recently in the destructive corporate busi. Readings underscores the architecture of social lifehow we, as social beings, are always building and. The my lai massacre a military crime of obedience herbert kelman and v. Kelman and hamilton identify three social processes under which these conditions occur.
Lee hamilton university of maryland joseph sanders university of houston law center one outgrowth of milgrams 1974 research is the study of public opinion about obedience norms. A military crime of obedience, herbert kelman and v. The my lai massacre, watergate, the irancontra affair. In their study of the my lai massacre and sadistic violence by prison guards at the concentration camps during the holocaust, kelman, and hamilton my lai probe hid policy that led to that was the conclusion reached in the most definitive official account of why my lai happened perils of dominance. The slaughter at my lai is an instance of a class of violent acts that can be described as.
Kelman and hamilton the my lai massacre a crime of obedience. Lee hamilton, of public reactions to the my lai massacre and the trial of lt. Conformity and obedience facing history and ourselves. To develop an adequate explanation of such actions, which is the task of social psychology. Lee hamilton claim that the act on my lai was an example of indefinite orders from one authority to another. The metropolis and mental life 29 georg simmel reading 2. Extending kelman and hamilton s 1989 research on crimes of obedience in the military, this article explores crimes of obedience and crimes of conformity in the workplace. Publications national criminal justice reference service. Extending kelman and hamiltons 1989 research on crimes. In the my lai massacre, individuals justify their actions by claiming that they were doing nothing more than. Isis the islamic state of iraq and syria levant use to be cohorts with the alqaeda but as of feb. The vietnam war is a very controversial subject for many americans. Crimes of obedience and conformity in the workplace.
Lee hamilton to investigate the attitudes toward responsibility and authority that underlie crimes of obediencenot only in military circumstances like my. Crime of obedience relates to this article because the my lai massacre was a military crime that occurred as a result of individuals obeying an authority figures orders. The 1968 my lai massacre was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against unarmed civilians during the vietnam war. Sociological imagination allows us to reflect on our situations and see the causation as big picture large societal issue rather than personal trouble. The 1968 my lai massacre was a military crime of obedience. Army troops slaughtered some 500 vietnamese villageskillings, described here in hideous detail, accompanied by.
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